Kentucky Open Records Case Decided in Newspaper's Favor

The Kentucky attorney general's office has ruled in favor of the Lexington Herald-Leader in the newspaper's attempt to see documents from Eastern Kentucky University about the departure this year of the school's arts center director.

The attorney general's opinion, which carries the weight of law, said EKU violated the Kentucky Open Records Act by denying documents regarding the former director of the Center for the Arts, Debra Hoskins.

University officials tried to fire Hoskins in June, a week before she announced her resignation to the center's board. The Herald-Leader (http://bit.ly/SoAAtn) requested documents pertaining to the issue, but the school denied the request, citing a confidentiality agreement signed by EKU and Hoskins.

The opinion holds that such agreements don't outweigh the public's right to know details of a public agency's operation.